Salute To Seniors: Matthew Lighten, Wahconah

MIleSplit. What would you consider the highlight of your high school career?

Matthew: The highlight of my high school career was coming second at states in the 200m by one hundredth of a second in 2018 after I sustained an injury the previous year that took almost 6 months to heal.

MIlesplit: What was your most memorable performance?

Matthew: All-States 2018 because I come from a place in Massachusetts where you don't see that many people even make it to states and coming runner-up by just a little means so much to me and a whole lot of other people in Berkshire County.

MileSplit: What was your most difficult obstacle to overcome?

Matthew: Training and keeping up with the entire state while they have indoor since my county doesn't partake in it. I've trained in blizzards, negative degree weather, and trained in the pitch black because I knew if I wanted an edge on my competition and just to keep up with the top people in the state as a whole, I had to go out there and improve.

MileSplit: What advice would you give to younger athletes?

Matthew: Work hard and don't cheat any reps. You may be getting tired and saying to yourself "I just want to go home" and all these regretful thoughts. Remember why you're out there working hard and remember your purpose in track. To Win. You will know you worked hard to get to where you are when you're beating most if not all of your competition. Be patient and wait for your time, I don't have indoor at my school and I only run with sub 11 and sub 22 sprinters 3 months after my seasons started. I had to wait for my time and I made sure to really made it count when the time came.

MileSplit: What will you miss most?

Matthew: I'll miss all the postseason meets because through those meets, I was able to see what true challenging competition there was outside of Western Massachusetts (aka) The Boondocks.

MileSplit: What are your future plans?

Matthew: I will be continuing my academic and athletic career through college.

MileSplit: What influence has your coach (or coaches) had with respect to your performance and overall life goals?

Matthew: Freshman year they were encouraging about me wanting to win sectionals in the 200m. and when I actually won it, they were shocked because they didn't expect a young, first year sprinter to win Central/Western in the 200m. After that, they believed I could be one of the best in Western Massachusetts.

MileSplit: Who would you like to say Thank You?

Matthew: I would like to say thank you to my dad. My dad realized how good I could be with some mechanic tweaks. Him and I have been working together with sprinting since I was a sophomore. I still have a lot to work on but I would not have gotten to this point if it wasn't for my dad.

Random Questions

Favorite Food:

Chicken Alfredo

Favorite Movie:

Get Out

Favorite Athlete:

Christian Coleman

Favorite Sport other than running:

Football

Stranded alone on an island, what would be the one thing you would need to maintain your sanity?